Fastening device.



A. D. FIELD.

FASTENING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10, 1908,

Patented Mar. 1,

iii

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

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Specification as." risen; Application :flled iliovember 10, 1008. Serial No. 461,808..

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that'I ALBERT D. FmLo, citizen of the United. tates, and resident of Waterbur in the county of New Haven and State of onnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fastening Devices, of which t e following is a specifi cation.

My invention relates to fastening devices or clasps for belts, apparel or other articles, and one of the objects of said invention is-to provide a simfple, cheap and efficient fastenmg device 0 the character specified, and which will overcome many of the disadvanta es heretofore encountered in-such devices.

0 the above and other ends which will hereinafter appear, my invention consists of the features of construction, arrangements of parts and combinations of devices hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a front face view of the fastenin device shown a plied toLa belt and with t e members of t e device locked togpther. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same. ig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the clasp the section being taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrow in'said figure. Fig. 4 is a detail end view of the latch or look carrying member of the clasp, the view looking in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 5, and with the lock shown withdrawn to the releasing position. Fig. 5 is a detailed front face view of a slightly modified form of lock carrying member; the view illustrating the lock in its extended-or locking position; and Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the clasp taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. l and looking in the direction of the arrow at said line.

The clasp comprises the members A and B,

i the latter constituting what may be termed a latch or look carrying member or plate Whereas the former constitutes what may be termed a fastening member or late, and comprisesa device that is prefera 'ly struck up from a sin le piece of sheet metal, with any suitable astening means, such for instance, as the cross bar 1 and opening 2, to afford means by which the member may be attached to one end of a belt C or to the article to which the clasp is to be secured. The member A has one or more slots, recesses or openings 3 that form cross bars 4 between them, which latter preferably have central depressed portions as indicated at 5, so as Figs. 1, 3 and 6.

to iorm a continuous longitudinally extendmg channelv inwthe central portion. of the member A between them, though the cross bars may straightacross and devoid of any depression like the cross bar 6. Alon each side of the member A is a depress channel or groove 7 an u turnedor' forwardly extending flange at h ed e of the member constituting one vi il of tfie associated e 7 Thus it will be seen that the grooves or channels at the sides of the member A extend throu hout the length thereof and are paralle to. each. other, for nrposes which will be hereinaiiter descri ed. The lock earrlywing member B isalso referabl struck up om a single piece of s eetmeta and is formed with suitable means for securing i-tto the belt 0 or other article to which it is to be attached, and in the present instanoethe member B has a cross :bar :9 and opening 10 that affordsmeans for uniting the member or sect1on to one end ofthe-belt. Each side edge of the member B is formed as a depend- Patented Mar. 1 1910.

ing flange 11 that is received within a groove 7 1n the member A, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 to afford a compact union of the two members; to present a fastening device having but a slight and uniform thickness, as

shown in Fig. 2, and to revent a lateral or sidewise displacement'o one member relatively' to the other. The free end of the member B has a. depending bearing 12, or one that is preferably in the nature of a barrel. bearing formed from the member .or plate B, the bearingextending therefrom on the same side as the flan es 11, and thelength of the :bearin exten in transversely of the plates or. mem ers A B and being of a length and diameter that will permit the hearings to be readily received in any of the o enings'3 in the late A, accordin to the a justment desire and asindicate in A locking device D preferably consists of a single-piece of spring wire .bentto form a' finger plece 13, two spring arms 14 and-combined pivots and locking members or fin ers 15, the latter bein received in the pivot bearings 12 and a apted to turn and .to move longitudinally therein. The side arms 14: coiiperatze with means for eflFectin a longitudinal movement of the pivots in their earings when the-device D is turned on said pivots. In the present instance these means comprise cams 0r inclined edges 16 formed as parts the body side thereof, as shown 1n tion shown in lockmg' fingers 15 Y the spring bars 4 were strai of the plate B, so that when the finger piece is in the lowermost position, shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5, the cams will permit the spring pressure of the arms 14 toe and the device and forcethe fingers longitu 'nally to their (projected ositlons where they extend beyon the pivot earings and interlock with the plate A at the under- Figs. 1 and 3, thus positively locking the two plates or members together. When the finger iece 13 is turned to the releasing position s own in FlgS. 4 and 6, the sprmg arms 14' will be cammed toward each other by the cams 16 and the looking fingers or plvots 15 will be withdrawn from the enga n their bearin s 12 an t e two members or plates A an B may be separated.

Slight indentations or recesses 17 may be provided in the plate B to receive the side arms 14 of the locking device at the last portion of the releasing movement thereof, and ressure of the arms will seat them in sai depressions, as shown in Fig. 4, and will prevent the locking device from being accidentally moved from the releasing to the locking position. The ressure thus exerted by the arms 14 to hol the locking device in the releasing position may be easily overcome by merely swinging the finger piece 13 toward the locking position and this will be effective to cam the arms toward each other on the slopin edges of the recesses 17 and afford the isplacement of the arms therefrom.

The plate B shown in Fig. 1 has a cross bar18 with a central depressed portion 19 that constitutes a support below the upper surface of the plate for the finger piece of the locking1 device. The plate B shown in Fi 5 is t e same as that illustrated in the ot er figures, except that in the construc- Fig. 5, the cross bar 18 is omitted entirely, allowing the finger piece to pass down into the channel formed by the depressed portions 5 in the cross bars of the plate A and to rest on said cross bars. The depressed ortions 5 in the plate A also allow the nger piece to assume a lower position in the normal or looking position thereof, than would be the case if the cross ht like the bar 6, and this is true whether t e plate B shown in Fig. 1 or that shown in Fig. 5 is employed.

It will be observed from an inspection of Figs. 1, 3 and 6 that when the bearings 12 are received in the openings in the plate A, there. is an interlockmg between said parts and that any pressure exerted to separate the plates longitudinally is not borne y the but is borne by the pivot bearings 12 and by the plate A, whereas the interlockin flan es 11 and grooves 7 prevent latera or si dewise displacement of the plates one relatively to-the other and none of positions and into the lateral strain on the parts is borne by the fingers 15.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have rovided a simple, cheap fasteningplevice which may be made of three ieces; t at the plates A and B ma each e struck up from'a single piece 0 sheet metal; that the clasp-may be made thin and compact and may be curved, as shown in Fig. 1, to

are no sharp edges or projections to catch into garments, such as ladies dresses, and tear them; that even the finger piece for releasing the lock is below the surface of the locking plate that carries it when said finger piece is in the lockin position and that there is no liability of t e finger piece being accidentally displaced or moved to the releasing position; that the lockin plates are securely and positively unite when locked together; that the rear or contact side of the clas presents an even surface for contact wit the body of the wearer; that there are no levers or projecting parts of the clasp which bear upon or are forced against the body of the wearer of the clasp at any time, either in lockin or releasing the clasp or while the clas is maintained locked in )lace; that the on y relative n'iovement of t e plates afforded when they are locked together, is a pivotal movement of the plate ,B around the pivots or looking fingers ment of the plates in order that they may conform to that portion of the body of the wearer to which the clasp is applied and so as not'to unduly press thereon, with an unresisting pressure; that such relative movement as is afiorded the plates can in no way effect a release of the locking means; that pressure or strain exerted on the members of the clasp, no matter in what direction, is inefiective to disconnect them; that the members of the clasp can only be disconnected by turning the locking device on its pivots; that this can be readily done since none of the pressure on the locked plates is borne by the locking device, and

that the parts can be readily assembled by merely placing the plate B of the clasp on top of the plate A and inserting the bearing 12 through an opening in-the plate A from above and locking them together. in the manner hereinbefore described, and that it-is unnecessary to connect the parts together by inserting one member through the other from beneath or next to the wearer, which would render the clasp d flicult to manipulate.

The foregoing and other advantages are presented by a clasp or fastening device embodying my invention, and while I have fit that portion of, the body or the r article to which it is applied; that there described with considerable detail one form of device embodying my mvention, I desire to have it understood thatmany changes 1n bers that are adapted to be interlocking engagement, one member formed construction may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A clasp comprising two se arable membrought into with a bearing adapted to limit the lateral movement of either, and an independently formed lock mounted in said bearing in which it is adapted tobe turned and in which it is adapted to be moved transversely to positively engage the other member when the two members are brought into interlocking engagement. a

2. A clasp comprising two separable members that are .adapted to be brought into interlocking engagement, one member having a depending bearing to limit lateral movement 'of either of thetwo members, and expansible locking fingers separate from either of said separable -members but carried by one of them and adapted,v to engage with the other'member when the separable members are brought into interlocking engagement.

3. A. clasp comprising two se arable membersthat are adapted to be brought into interlocking engafgement, expansible locking fingers separate rom, but carried in bearings formed on one of said separable mem bers and adapted to engage and interlock with the other member, said one member formed with a cam for effecting the expansion and contraction of said fingers.

4. A clasp comprising two interlocking members, expansible locking fingers carried by one of said members which is adapted to hook and interlock the fingers with theother member, a finger piece connected to said fingers, the member carrying the locking fingers formed with means for effecting the expansion and contraction of the fingers whenthe fin er-piece is actuated and while the two mem ers are hooked together.

5. A clasp comprising two interlocking members one formed with a bolt bearing, a locking bolt carried in said bearing and adapted to interlock with the other member to unite the two, a swinging finger-piece connected to the bolt, the member carrying the bolt formed with a cam for eifecting the I movement of the bolt when the finger-piece is actuated.

6. A clasp comprising two members adapted to be interlocked, one formed on. opposite sides with channels or grooves, the other member formed with bearings, transversely movable fingers in said bearings and adapted to lock the two members when in interlocking engagement.

7. A clasp comprising two members adapted to be interlocked, one formed on opposite sides with channels or grooves, the other member formed with bearings and with cam surfaces, fingers in said bearlngs and formed with a finger-piece ada ted to coact with said cam surfaces for with rawing the fingers.

8. A clasp comprising two interlocking members one formed with an opening and a central depression, the other member formed with bearings and cam surfaces, fingers mounted in said bearings and formed with a finger-piece adapted to coact with said cam for withdrawing said fingers.

9. .A clasp comprising two interlocking members one-formed with a series of openings and a central depression, the other member formed with a depending bearing .and cam surfaces, fingers mounted in said bearings and formed with a finger-piece adapted to coact with said cam for withdrawing said fingers.

10. A clasp comprising two interlocking members, one formed with a series of transverse openings, a central depression and a longitudinal channel or groove on opposite sides, the other member formed with depending bearings and cam surfaces, fingers mounted in said bearings and formed with a fingerpiece adapted to coact with said cam for withdrawing said fingers.

Signed at Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut this 4 day of February A. D. 1908.

. ALBERT D. FIELD.

Witnesses:

LAWRENCE L. LEWIS, MAR; R. E. Lnn. 

